On February 16th and 17th CanBIM hosted its 15th Event in Vancouver, BC at the Harbourfront Pinnacle Hotel.
The event hosted a fantastic site tour of the Telus Science World complete with presentation from Bush Bohlman's Michael Sullivan, eight (8) industry presentations, two CanBIM related informational presentations and two panel discussions along with a full day Technology Exhibition with ten vendors. Videos for all presentations and panels will post on our YouTube channelshortly.
The CanBIM Site Tour of the Telus Science World was an exceptional tour with a fascinating presentation from Michael Sullivan from Bush Bohlman & Partners LLP that gave guests an inside look at utilizing Revit in a collaborative BIM approach to facilitate a major Expansion and Seismic Retrofit of a complex existing Legacy Building from the 1986 World’s Fair. Following the Tour attendees were treated to some beverages and light hors doeurves at the Autodesk Welcome Reception complete with great conversation and networking time.
The CanBIM Technology Exhibition has become an important component of CanBIM Regional Sessions and offers attendees the opportunity to touch and feel emerging technologies first hand. Attendees were treated to an assortment of professional services and technologies from Autodesk, Brandt Positioning Technologies, Cansel, Stuart Olson's Centre For Building Performance, GeoShack, Global eTraining, Leica Geosystems, S-Frame Software, Trimble and IrisVR.
The first of two CanBIM Informational presentations was presented by Gerry Lattmann, Executive Director, CanBIM. Gerry discussed the many iniaitives underway at CanBIM, choosing to focus the presentation on "What You Need to Know About CanBIM". Covering topics such as the Member operated Committees, the CanBIM Event App, Presentation Submission process for Regional Sessions, the upcoming 2016 CanBIM Awards in October, the Monthly Newsletter highlighting CanBIM Member achievements, indepth interviews and case studies, CanBIM Certification and much more.
Jeff McLellan, Vice President Client Executive of BFL Canada opened the day as the keynote presenter with an insightful perspective on the process of BIM, making the point that BIM "is a way of working together that has and will change how construction projects are delivered" and of course imbedded in that process is the need to measure and control risk and reward. Jeff also commented on how the insurance industry is keeping pace with BIM exploring the many challenges this presents.
Lucas Epp, Head of Engineering and 3D Manager at StrucutreCraft higlighted the benefits of Timber as a primary building material. An emphasis on prefabrication of timber panels and systems complete with integrated services enables fast erection times and high quality control. Key to successful delivery of such integrated systems is the use of BIM and digital fabrication processes.
Vaughn Harris, Executive Director of the BIM Institute of Africa, noted that in under 5 years there has been immense change in the software arena that has reshaped the entire global construction landscape. Many companies have invested heavily in software applications and processes to support BIM and even though we may still try to research improved technology, the chances of implementing a successful solution are slim unless we have a good information management system in place on a project.
Ailyn Mendoza, Director of Architecture + Client Services at IrisVR, demonstrated a New AEC Workflow with her companies emerging VR technology. Architects, contractors and designers devote a significant amount of their day to illustrating and documenting designs with tools like Revit, Rhino and Sketchup. However, these designs are confined to the computer screens and these 2D displays are simply ineffective at communicating how a space actually feels. At Iris they are using virtual reality to move beyond the 2D screen, enabling desktop software to make immersive, true-to-scale VR walkthroughs with one click. Their mobile app compliments this process by allowing you to share immersive panoramas on the go.
Challenges in BIM Production was the first of two panel discussions which touched on how BIM affects production/construction, how the modeling process impacts construction, analysis of production processes under different project types (Design-Bid-Build, Design Build, P3) and more. The panel was moderated by Bruce McCallum, National Design Technology Manager, DIALOG and including a panel of esteemed and experienced BIM professionals; Marwan Bakri, Director of BIM/Virtual Construction at Ledcor Construction, Laura K. Smith BIM Manager at Kasian Architecture, Scott Chatterton, BIM & Quality Control Manager and HDR International BIM Integration Lead, Dr. Sheryl Staub-French, Associate Professor Dept. of Civil Engineering & Goldcorp Professor for Women in Engineering at UBC and Bruce Knapp, Managing Principal at B+H Architects
Santiago Diaz, Senior Computational Designer - Perkins + Will presented a case study on Computational Design in Construction. An examination of the Orchard Commons, a mixed use development for an international college currently under construction at UBC. Throughout the design process, visual computer programming was used to distill design intent and explore geometric variations for the façades of two residential buildings in the complex, in pursuit of a configuration optimized for simplicity of construction and cost-effectiveness. The design team’s aspiration was to create an inspiring setting with a recognizable identity for foreign students. The project was intended to demonstrate efficient and affordable design, construction, and ongoing operation.
Graham Hyde, VDC Manager at AECON presented how Aecon Water Inc has been marketed to work in the water industry and have developed 'BIM' techniques, that have been promoted heavily within the AEC industry, to improve the pre-fabrication and installation processes of their piping business. Graham demonstrated the approach Aecon has adopted in creating information, when working in new build and existing waste water facilities. Graham provided a look at how in-house 3D models have been developed from design into being 'The One Source of Truth', within their project teams capitalizing on using them for reviewing constructability, creating drawings/quantities, installation verification and visualizing progress.
Matthew Goldsberry, Digital Design Principal and Joel Yow Computational Designer at HDR Archtiecture discussed an approach to integrated project delivery using computational design and how it seamlessly links people and data together, streamlines the decision-making process, integrates all key project team members and interactively visualizes important metrics. Their presentation demonstrated, using current project examples, how HDR successfully uses computational design to support IPD projects from concept through to construction documents.
Carl Storms, Senior Applications Expert at IMAGINiT presented that with today's technology we no longer need to be chained to our desks to get our work done! There are many apps out there for both iOS and Android, as well as web based programs that can run almost anywhere, on almost anything that has a web browser and Internet access. Carl explored the benefits of working with a mobile workflow and he examined how a mobile and a traditional workflow can co-exist, as well to show some of what is available to improve your mobile workflow within the AECOO Industry.
Beyond BIM was the second of two panel discussions; moderated by Scott Chatterton, BIM & Quality Control Manager and HDR International BIM Integration Lead focused on technological advancements in software and utilization of cloud computing enabling us to harness the power of infiinte computing. Panelists included Daniel Doherty, CM BIM Manager of Virtual Construction, Clark Builders, Lucas Epp, Head of Engineering + 3D Manager at StructureCraft, Charles Leman, BIM Specialist at Bing Thom Architects and Matthew Goldsberry, Digital Design Principal at HDR Architecture.
The day wrapped up with an overview of CanBIM Certification program from Pietro Ferrari, CanBIM Director and Chair, Education & Research Committee and a Certification Ceremony where CanBIM Certified forty-three (43) BIM Professionals at varying levels of experience and competency.
Juan Lepe, DIALOG, CanBIM CP Certified
Michael Sullivan, Bush Bohlman & Partners LLP, CanBIM CP Certified
George Ikonomakis, Bird Construction, CanBIM CP Certified
Steve Nonis, Turner Fleischer Architects, CanBIM BP3 Certified
Robert Hughes, Keystone Architecture CanBIM BP2 Certified
Closing remarks were delivered by CanBIM President R. Allan Partridge, who noted progress from the early days of CanBIM Regional Sessions up to today and what has been unique about CanBIM's evolution, is the diversity of projects and the cohesiveness of the Canadian BIM Community within each of the cities CanBIM has visited. This point speaks to the calibre of people within the Canadian community and how these professionals have embraced technology. Allan also noted that across the country there has also been an emergence of the "new generation" of design and construction professionals who will embrace the new methods and technologies for design and build, which evoked applause.
Allan noted that "we are at the cusp of a Golden Age within the design and build industry....we won't recognize it a generation from now and it all starts today with what we are doing....change will not come easy, change will not come without a lot of effort, and it's going to require us to completely off load all the baggage we've been carrying for decades upon decades as we move forward" he further added "CanBIM will continue to be the champion of change and encourage everyone to get on this great journey, because it's a wonderful opportunity we have ahead of us to really change the nature of design and construction in Canada"
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